Why do you read poetry?
How do you respond to evil?
How do we fix a broken community?
What would you do to stay alive?
Join us Tuesday evenings on Zoom, starting October 13th, from 7- 8 PM EST as we discuss these and more fundamental questions raised by these Greek plays:
Aristophanes’ The Frogs
Sophocles’ Electra
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata
Euripides’ Alcestis
We will spend the first week on The Frogs, with each following play receiving one to two weeks of attention. In the course of our discussion we will read many scenes aloud together, bringing to life some of the most important moments.
The Frogs by Aristophanes
Estimated reading time of one hour.
Frogs, Greek Batrachoi, a literary comedy by Aristophanes, produced in 405 BCE. The play tells the story of Dionysus, the god of drama, who is mourning the quality of present-day tragedy in Athens after the death of his recent favourite, Euripides. Disguising himself as the hero Heracles, and bringing along his servant Xanthias, Dionysus goes down to Hades to bring back the best poet. Will it be Euripides?
Electra by Sophocles
Estimated reading time of an hour and a half.
Sophocles' Electra tells the story of the vengeance of Electra and her brother Orestes against the murderers of their father, King Agamemnon. Agamemnon was killed on his return from the Trojan war by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Clytemnestra believes the murder was justified as a response to Agamemnon’s sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia before the war, as commanded by the gods.
Lisistrata by Aristophanes
Estimated reading time of one hour.
Lysistrata, Greek Lysistrate, is a comedy by Aristophanes, produced in 411 BCE. Lysistrata depicts the seizure of the Athenian Acropolis and of the treasury of Athens by the city's women. At the instigation of the witty and determined Lysistrata, they join forces with the women of Sparta to declare a ban on sexual contact until their partners end the Peloponnesian War, which has lasted more than 20 years…
Alcestis by Euripides
Estimated reading time of an hour and a half.
In Alcestis, Admetus, king of Thessaly, grieves the loss of his wife, Alcestis. Alcestis died for Admetus, who was offered the chance to escape his fated death if another were to die for him. Now alive, but with his wife dead on his behalf, Admetus struggles with the reality of death, and realizes he is “facing a life ... / that is no life at all”. However tragic the circumstances, this play has many comedic elements, not the least of which is the stranger that arrives on Admetus’ doorstep following the funeral….